Driveshaft- is it worth it?
 

Is this worth it?
1990-2002 Camaro, Firebird LPE 3 1/2 Inch Diameter Aluminum Driveshaft

Quantity in Basket:none
Code: LN0350S
Price:$299.95

Shipping Weight: 18.00 pounds




Quantity:

Custom Lingenfelter Performance Engineering 3.5" diameter aluminum driveshaft for L98, LT1 and LS1 V8 equipped Camaros and Firebirds. Fits both manual and automatic equipped vehicles. Reduce unwanted driveshaft vibration and rotating mass by roughly 5 pounds over the steel LT1 and L98 driveshaft with this custom 3.5" high strength aluminum driveshaft that weighs only 12.3 lbs.

This driveshaft also provides a much higher critical speed (maximum operating RPM) than the stock 2.5" steel shaft, the 2.75" aluminum 1LE shaft or even the 3" LS1 shaft. The stock steel shafts in the 1993 to 1997 LT1 cars are 2.5" in diameter. The 1988 to 1992 1LE aluminum shafts were 2.75" in diameter. The 1998 and newer aluminum LS1 driveshafts are 3.0" in diameter. This driveshaft fits all 4th generation Camaros and Firebirds equipped with the OEM 10-bolt 7 5/8" rear and includes U-joints & yoke for a fast, easy installation.

- i almost asked the same question, and anyone know roughly how much HP TQ is gained per 1LB of rotational weight saved

Very good question. I would like to know myself if this is a good mod or not.

This is from jaberwaki write up
https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-owners-newbie-tech/361959-so-you-wanna-fast.html

2. Driveshaft

First things first, you need to say to yourself over and over and over again: "ALUMINUM IS FOR BEER CANS, NOT DRIVESHAFTS!!!" When it comes to driveshafts, I will stand on this statement every day and twice on Sunday. If your plans include a lot of power and sticky tires, then you have three choices for driveshafts.

Steel
Steel is real. Steel is strong. Steel is easy to balance. Steel is afforable. Can anyone guess what kind of driveshaft I have? Thats right, steel. Steel, however, is not perfect; it does have two troubles. 1. It is heavy -- against its
lighter counterparts, it does produce slightly more parasitic loss. 2. In the rare occasion that they do break, they take a lot of stuff with them.

Chromoly
Chromoly... without going into a chemistry class, think of chromoly as having all the plusses of steel, and add to that it weights about 50% less. So why doesn't everyone have one? Price -- ah yes, the almighty dollar. These things are very pricey.

Carbon Fiber
All right! A real use for carbon fiber, other then making ricer hoods! Carbon fiber is light, very strong, and looks GREAT. One major asset that carbon fiber has that the other two do not, is that in the rare case that it does break, the fibers splinter and crack into what is best descibed as a broom. This means that as you are hitting the brakes and your broken driveshaft is still spinning, it is NOT hurting anything else. Hell, it might even clean off a thing or two.

Very nice explanation.

that explanation is very good, BUT i am more of a street guy and I am not putting down 400 lbs. of torque/hp. aside fromthe upgrades of tc converter gears, ls6 intake, tb, would this be an effective expenditure of $300, plus loosin a couple of lbs....??? please expound upon, thanks...

I have money to burn!!
 

So I will be grabbing a carbon fiber driveshaft next year. :devil:

I'll let everyone know how it turns out. Or if anyone currently using them could chime in...

who else would like to contribute...i know you are out there....has anybody done one?

Even though it is lighter, the 3 1/2" puts the rotating mass further from the center than the 3" shaft. You may even loose rwhp with this.

ok that is the answer i am looking for..no need to do it.....thanks y'alll...

Good info in here.

I paid $330 for a chrome moly.

where did you get a chrome moly for 330?

Yeah where?

APE......who used to be a sponsor here. Sorry fellas, they went out of business.

I got the DS 6 weeks before they shut the doors. I guess I got the shaft before I got the shaft :poke:

That was bad.

:D





It kinda was :shiner:

The lpe AL 3.5 Driveshaft is a good drive shaft for heads/cam and little to no track use and not using slicks. My buddy loves his but he has put 2 DS loops on because he thinks it is going to exsplode and beat the shit out of his car. He just ordered a new denny's like I did.

Carbon fiber will broom stick if you hit a rock. Then you are out $700

Just get a dennys with the life time warrenty and you will be ok.

For a stock rear I wouldnt waste the money. The rear would probably break before the shaft does. they have 1330 u joint in them
I have a aluminum shaft for my Z made by Dynotech it hasent broke yet. When it breaks I will post up to you guys. When ordering I asked the dude how much HP can this shaft handle, he said how much you putting out and weight of car I told him a hair over 3500 lbs and around 550rwhp w/ N20 he laughed he thought I was building a 1000+ hp car. Obviously I was telling him BS about my car but according to him the MMC aluminum is more then enough for my application. So until it breaks i'll be happy with the lighter weight. But then again it all depends on what your goals are. I aint trying to build a single digit or even a 10 sec car.

I also got the APE 3" chro-mo shaft for $320 about a year ago - actually had a good dealing with them, but obviously things changed down the road. Regardless that was the only place I saw that had chro-mo, everything else was steel or AL. I probably would've gone with a Denny's had I not seen a GP on those APE shafts. Everyone seems to have had good results with Denny's.

Call Billingsly. That's where I got my Strange CM.